What is the best hospital in UK?
Northumbria Healthcare is consistently the best hospital (group) in the UK.
But. Defining what are the best hospitals in the UK is (of course) partly subjective, and partly based on how ‘best’ is defined.
In other words .. best at what? Medical care (that could be good in one department and less good in another)? Shortest waiting lists? Staff numbers? Cleanest? Infection rates? Training? Research? Being in financial balance? The list goes on.
For example, your view could have nothing to do with NHS performance indicators – let alone the ‘friends and family’ test. It could be one that is nearest to where you live (and that you trust); where the parking is easiest; one where you or your family have had good treatment in the past; or one where there is a particular expert in your problem.
Nonetheless, according to https://top100hospitals.co.uk/ below are the top 30 (out of their top 100) best hospitals in the UK, based on something called the Public View’s Hospital Combined Performance Score (HCPS).
The information is regularly updated on their website.
1 Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust – HCPS score = 6,551
2 Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 5,965
3 University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust 5,815
4 Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust 5,771
5 Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust 5,726
6 St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust 5,571
7 Royal Surrey County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 5,527
8 Ashford and St. Peter’s Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 5,455
9 Homerton University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 5,418
10 North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust 5,414
11 Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust 5,361
12 South Warwickshire NHS Foundation Trust 5,257
13 Somerset Partnership NHS Foundation Trust 5,253
14 University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 5,089
15 Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust 4,989
16 The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 4,821
17 Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 4,756
18 Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust 4,719
19 London North West Healthcare NHS Trust 4,707
20 Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust 4,697
21 University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust 4,570
22 Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 4,501
23 Kingston Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 4,490
24 Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust 4,480
25 Royal Devon University Healthcare Foundation Trust 4,466
26 University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust 4,454
27 Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust 4,449
28 East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust 4,416
29 The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust 4,415
30 East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust 4,405.
Top NHS Regions in UK
In terms of regions, the Top 30 are:
- Home Counties (especially Surrey) – 7 Hospitals
- London – 7
- North – 6
- South and South-West – 5
- Midlands – 5.
What is the HCPS Score?
HCPS is constructed from ten nationally reported key performance indicators, including:
- Current key NHS target performance (4 Hour A&E, 18 week Outpatient Referral/Treatment, 62 day Cancer Treatment)
- Care Quality Commission (CQC; the NHS inspector) score. There is quite good overlap between the HCPS and the CQC grade (outstanding, good, requires improvement and inadequate)
- Quality of care
- Finance
- Workforce/employment
- Others.
The performance for each indicator is converted into points using an adaption of the formula used for the decathlon in athletics. These scores are then added together across the ten indicators to produce an overall hospital score.
Summary
We have discussed what is the best hospital in UK. Northumbria is consistently the best. We hope it is clearer now.
Last Reviewed on 3 July 2024